Steinberg UR44 Audio Interface

Brilliant Sound quality! Pre-amps are dead quiet. I run two Pre-sonus valve racks into it as my main pre-amps on first 2 channels and it has no problem handling those hotter signals as well. For practice I take a SM58 straight into it and it sounds beautiful. The DSP control interface is amazing and does what it does brilliantly. I use it with Sonar X2 on a Windows 7 PC and works like a charm. The drivers are rock solid. I used a Roland tri-capture before this but I liked the added inputs and DSP interface (Although the Roland interface is OK) Before this I mainly used a Yamaha MW 10 channel mixer with USB out. The preamps are excellent, Unfortunately it can only record up to 16bit 48KHz so when I heard Yamaha is making the pre's on this one I was already happy with it. I am no engineer so when I bought it without testing, I knew what I wanted but did not know what to expect. Sound quality: Amazing - I mostly record at 24bit 48Khz. This sounds super fine to me. Value: Great, I would say this type of interface should be the first piece of gear of any home studio. Go for the 6 channels rather than buying a bigger unit later (UR44 vs. UR22). This was my main pushover from Focusrite. The cost of their 6 channel unit was slightly higher. I would not say that I made a mistake as the build quality is excellent. I will never say anything bad about the Focusrite as I have not used it. This was cheaper and it sounds amazing. The DSP interface has no glitches at all. It works beautifully to set your mic/input levels before opening up your studio software. As for the software included. I already received a copy of Steinberg Cubase with an earlier purchase of Yamaha gear. You get your Pro tools guys, your Studio 1 and your Sonar guys (umm, sorry or girls). Cubase is a very versatile nice program but the installation is a bit of a drag. I have used Cakewalk and Sonar for more than 16 years and love it. tricky if you use the software version of e-licenser. I immediately did an update via the DSP interface window and everything installed beautifully. It even recognizes all your old e-licenses etc. Can't comment on Windows 8 though.

Steinberg has outdone itself in producing this amazing interface and I'll try to explain why I think so. The ordering of the below points was arbitrarily chosen without sequencing by importance. Pros: 1. Build quality: Right away you see the quality of the device, as the device comes in a rugged full metal body which looks like it can stand the test of time. The Neutrik combo jacks are an industry standard. The knobs and buttons feel very very solid. The smooth finish and grey/black color combinations are a touch indeed. It is however more heavy than it would seem, which gives me confidence in quality anyway. Simply a 10/10 for build. 2. Mic Pres: One of the most important qualities of an interface. and in this regard the UR44 shines again. The pres are very quiet both at low and high gain settings. I can compare with the Presonus 44VSL which had pres which were far more noisy. 3. Good I/O options: 4 mic, 2 line input and Midi I/O. Plenty for my needs. 2 headphone outputs with 2 mixes is again a killer feature. Invaluable while recording music with other people. 4 . DSP features: DSP is fast becoming a standard feature in interfaces even at this price range. UR44 kicks the butt of most interfaces in this regard. This interface works in conjunction with the dspMixFX software interface. It offers EQ, compression, high pass filter, phase and guitar amp both while monitoring and recording (You can use these effects as an insert). This software control is even better integrated into Cubase. Reverb you can use only for monitoring, or for recording using the loopback feature. 5. Standalone use: This is what simply takes the cake imo. Artists can use the interface standalone on stage. All the levels, effects, compression and other settings can be stored onto the device. So you can even hear reverb without computer processing. To change settings or recall profiles however, you will need to control the dspMixFX software using a computer or iPad. I always add some reverb to my vocal or instrument mic while performing live. Yamaha's reverb FX is surprisingly good. 6. Performance: It is simply rock solid while in use. The drivers are well written leading to very low latency performance. The software control never failed on me. The AD/DA conversion is top notch. I use it with the Studio One DAW, and it hasn't caused me problems one single time. Forums are in high praise of this kind of stability. Cons: 1. The biggest con is that the pres seem a little under powered. It hasn't been an issue with the mics that I own, but with some mics that require lot off gain, you have to crank it all the way up. With some dynamics or tube mics, I could even see it not being sufficient. Again, it depends on the requirements of your mics. So do some research first. But gain is very clean overall. 2. I/O options are plenty enough. But I like RCA line inputs usually. Of course, that problem is easily solved using cables. But I would have still preferred RCA to connect line level devices like mp3 players, etc. 3. Headphone outputs are not the loudest: My older interfaces, be it the Presonus 22VSL or the Yamaha Audiogram 3, gave me a louder headphone output. So again look into the specs for your requirements. 4. Reverb: I wish reverb could have been recorded as well on each individual channel. It sounds so good. But I am asking for too much at this point. :) Overall, have no doubt about buying this interface. It is a steal at this price!

This is a very nice audio interface. The pre-amps are super quiet. You have to turn the gains up about 80% to get a good input signal. The unit did not work as expected at first. The monitoring function would not work in either Cubase 8 Pro or Logic Pro 9. The microphone was constantly on. It turns out it was a software issue. WARNING - DO NOT INSTALL the software on the enclosed CD. Instead, go to the Steinberg website and download the updated Tool for UR44 version 2.1.0 (released 5/7/2014) and Firmware update version 2.1.1 (released 10/23/2014). Both of these updates/fixes have been available for almost a year now. One would think they would have enclosed these versions on the CD.

Purchased this for my home studio and for on-the-go recording and mixing. As an audio engineer working with high end interfaces such as Pro Tools HDX systems, Lynx and RME, this interface rocks for the price. I've been a fan of Steinberg products since the UR22 which is a smaller version of the UR44. As Steinberg is a part of Yamaha, I've always expected great quality from everything they've released and I have yet to be disappointed! Compared to the UR22: For double the price of the UR22, This thing packs more for your money than interfaces $500 and up! In addition, it comes with four D-Pres instead of two and has an additional headphone jack for two mixes. Pros: 6 Inputs (4 with Preamp) and 4 Outputs, Enough to get most things done if you're a home studio or on the road musician. Built like a rock, seriously, this thing feels like you can smash it and it would still retain its shape and work! Now utilizes the dspMixFx with Internal Channel Strip (EQ, Compressor and Reverb) which is a steal at this price. You can route reverb to headphone mixes for your vocalists or use latency free EQ and Compression on the fly, which didn't come in the UR22. Two headphone outputs for double monitoring along with seperate output for your studio monitors, standard in most high end interfaces nowadays. MIDI in and out, a must if you are a producer! New Class-compliant mode, with now works with iPad if you need to record without a computer. Cons: Unlike the UR22, the UR44 requires a power adapter and not USB Bus powered. This isn't a big problem since it provides a steady power supply for microphones unlike the UR22 which is prone to dropouts due to fluctuations in USB Bus power. To control the volume for your studio monitors, the "output" knob must be adjusted which is somewhat an inconvenience to do if you wish to reference both your headphones and monitors at the same time. The preamps are OK, i've driven very quiet mics such as the Neumann TLM 103 with no problem due to their low noise...but LDCs and Tube Mics with a not-so-hot signal may need to be driven by an external preamp to make it sound good. Once you pass 60% on the Gain Knob for the preamps, they start to introduce alot more noise that may affect your recording, especially vocals and overheads. If you plan to record by DI or instruments with high SPL than you won't have to worry as much. Plan on getting a external preamp to drive those quiet microphones! The AD/DA conversion is reference quality, to compare to high end interfaces, it is almost on par with the RME Fireface UFX, The conversion is very clean and transparent and a pleasure to work with. Overall: I am very satisfied with this purchase. For $300, you can't get better then the features offered in this little box. This little box, for me, is an all-in-one recording and mixing beauty.

I really wanted the UR44 to work. On the outside it appears to be the perfect interface and it's a steal. I heeded all the warnings of the prior reviews and went in knowing there would be some hurdles to getting up and running. So after 9 hours invested installing and trouble shooting I'm throwing in the towel. The last problems I encountered were cubase not recognizing the individual inputs of the UR44 and the waveforms not appearing. I looked up the waveform issue on steinberg support and it stated they were aware of the issue and were working on an update. That would be acceptable had this not been on the market for 5 years! It's a shame that Steinberg didn't put more time in on developing this and released it half baked. It's particularly frustrating for beginners. Talk about being thrown in the deep end of the daw pool. You are left wondering if you installed it correctly when all along it was the product's shortcomings.

Never got this to work correctly. Spent days wrestle with Steinberg's rediculous eLicensing software. Steinberg's support was subpar when compared to others. The entire setup procedure(s) did not give confidence in this item. The hardware did start to work, but only with Cubase and was intermittent. I really wanted to make the move back to Cubase but this really scared me away. Returned and will be picking up a Scarlett instead.

(UPDATE) I have done some comparison testing with this audio interface. While listening to my Yamaha MOXF8 straight through its headphone jack, everything sounds crisp and clear. Listening through the same keyboard, using the same headphones, yet routed through Line Input 5 and 6, using the Phones jack in the interface, the sound quality and breadth is lacking. Especially in the top end of the sound spectrum. The low-midrange is muddied and the overall sound feels moderately to severely squashed. Hopefully, it doesn't record like it sounds, because the comparisons I've done has generated these very disappointing results. Runs and records beautifully. Got this for the multiple inputs and MIDI ports, and they all work like a charm. An easy-to-use interface comes with it, too, but features are a little lacking.

I got this to replace its smaller sibling, the UR22 (which is also terrific). I needed more inputs and preamps, and trust the quality and performance of Steinberg products.This did not disappoint me. I am using the UR44 with Cubase. There is almost nothing I don't like with this interface. Easy to use, works really well with Cubase, spectacular preamps for its class, superior hardware quality. Jacks, pots, switches, case--everything about this oozes solidity and quality. It inspires confidence in its reliability. I especially like the ability to have phantom power on for two inputs and off for the others, because I often mix types of microphones. The recordings I get with the UR44 are very smooth-sounding and clean, really professional results. The only cons with this unit don't diminish my high esteem for it one bit. These involve the included guitar amp effects that can be used as either hardware based (in the UR44 itself) or as plugins. The included amp models take a bit of fiddling to get a natural, pleasing sound, and I do not like them nearly as much as the ones that are included in Cubase. I usually use third party guitar amp plug ins (I love Bias Amp Desktop), if I go that route. For serious recording, for me, nothing beats a mic on a speaker cabinet, driven by a cranked non-master volume tube amp. Also, the included algorithmic reverbs are adequate to get lower latency monitoring, but I prefer convolution reverbs for printing in final mixes. Finally, the mixer interface within Cubase to handle the UR44 routing and settings is a bit clunky at first, but easy once you get the hang of it.

Es un excelente producto para grabar lo que sea, los preamps son muy transparentes con una gran presencia en los medios y altos, cuenta con un channel strip y reverb digital el cual lo puedes aplicar al momento de grabar sin ninguna latencia, de gran ayuda sus 2 salidas de audifonos las cuales pueden tener una mezcla independiente cada uno, ademas de que viene con una copia de Cubase Le para empezar a grabar sin necesidad de comprar otro programa

I upgraded from the UR 22mkll. I looked at lots of interfaces and found this one had the most features for the money. A great feature is the ability to split the phantom power between the mic lines. In other words, you can have phantom power on the mic but not the guitar. cc mode for an ipad is also nice. Software includes FX Suite plug ins to model the sound.

It's great!. I personally liked it... Pretty stable and sturdy ... Full metal body and D pre preamp work quite well.. and fully compactible with Cubase as I work on Cubase it's performance is just flawless ... Real time monitoring no latency found.. no clipping no hissing and audio is superb... I'll recommend it all home studios and semi large music production studio..

Excelente interfaz. Prácticamente nada de delay una calidad de salida de audio que no le pide nada a una instalación profesional y tiene un balance perfecto de costo/beneficio. Lo único es que no incluye el e-licenser físico para los vsts que trae... pero no es nada del otro mundo.

With my Pro-tools, it works Great. No more driver drops like I had with my other card. Love the 2 headphones output. And the slick design.